Daily Dribble: Mid-Major All-American Thoughts

CHN released its official Preseason
Mid-Major All-America team this past Friday.. here are my personal views on our
selections. All CHN awards are voted on by staff writers.

CollegeHoops.net Preseason
Mid-Major Player of the Year: Stephen Curry (Davidson)

-
Big shock here.. Curry was a unanimous POY by all of the voters.

CollegeHoops.net First Team
Mid-Major All-America

Stephen Curry

Davidson

JR

G

Patrick Mills

Saint Mary's

SO

G

Lester Hudson

Tennessee-Martin

SR

G

Matt Howard

Butler

SO

F

Diamon Simpson

Saint Mary's

SR

F

-
Mills was also a unanimous First-Teamer along with Curry, while Hudson also got
a large percentage of votes. Howard, last year's HL newcomer of the year,
is in a position to put up big-time numbers with so many new faces at Butler.
(But Cleveland State's J'Nathan Bullock might be an even better forward in the
HL, and Bullock didn't even make our top three teams). Simpson is also a
deserving pick, as he might be the most talented big man amongst the mid-majors.
All in all, no complaints with this squad.

CollegeHoops.net Second Team
Mid-Major All-America

Al Fisher

Kent State

SR

G

Josh Akognon

Fullerton

SR

G

Kenny Hasbrouck

Siena

SR

G

Marqus Blakely

Vermont

JR

F

John Bryant

Santa Clara

SR

C

-

MAC teams and players
always seemed to get overlooked (I'm sometimes guilty myself), but Fisher is the
real. Most years he'd be worthy of First Team Mid-Major, but its rare to see
national stars like Curry & Mills on this list. Hasbrouch beats out teammate
Ubiles (3rd Teamer) for this spot, but both could make the 2nd team if they
finish Top 30 as expected. You simply don't see true big men (ie, actual post
players) who can play at the lower levels of college basketball, but Bryant is
the real deal. He could average 20 and 10 this year, and I wouldn't be surprised
in the slightest if he knocks Howard or Simpson off the first team. (He finished
6th in voting as is).

CollegeHoops.net Third Team
Mid-Major All-America

Brandon Johnson

San Diego

SR

G

Edwin Ubiles

Siena

JR

G/F

Jonathan Rodriguez

Campbell

JR

F

Ryan Wittman

Cornell

JR

F

Carlos Monroe

Florida Atlantic

SR

F

-

One of the major
preseason annuals (Lindy's) thinks so highly of Johnson, that they put him on
the WCC All-Conference team over Mills. Johnson did have that great WCC tourney
game against Mills/SMC, but he belongs here. As noted above, Ubiles could
certaibly move higher if Siena dominates as expected. Rodriguez is a numbers guy
(20 & 10), but is on a bad team and most people have probably never seen him
play. Wittman, unlike Rodriguez, doesn't put up the big numbers.. but is
probably a better ballplayer on a team that should most likely make the Big
Dance.

CollegeHoops.net Honorable
Mention Mid-Major All-American

Josh Alexander

Stephen F Austin

SR

G

Michael Bramos

Miami

SR

G

J'Nathan Bullock

Cleveland State

SR

F

Garrison Carr

American

SR

G

Louis Dale

Cornell

JR

G

Devin Gibson

Texas-San Antonio

SO

G

Jeremy Goode

Mount Saint Mary's

JR

G

David Holston

Chicago St

SR

G

Robert Jarvis

Oral Roberts

SR

G

Dior Lowhorn

San Francisco

JR

F

Donovan Morris

Long Beach St

SR

G

Courtney Pigram

East Tennessee St

SR

G

Gyno Pomare

San Diego

SR

F

Ryan Thompson

Rider

JR

F

Mike Trimboli

Vermont

SR

G

Desmond Yates

Middle Tennessee St

JR

F

Ben Woodside

North Dakota St

SR

G

-
There are some solid
guys on this list including a couple who probably deserve more respect. J'Nathan
Bullock is the best player on the HL's preseason favorite (Cleveland State) and
is good enough to make the First Team. Michael Bramos is a very intriguing
player, who bounces around between all-world and all-ugly depending on whether
his jumper is falling. With just a little more consistency, he's looking at 20
ppg this year. Garrison Carr and Josh Alexander are two other guys who stand out
as being of higher quality than the rest.

No one on the
Honorable Mention teams stands out as being particularly overrated. Perhaps Ryan
Thompson, who might have gotten more respect due to his brother's stardom.
Thompson will be the best player on Rider this year, but the Broncs might only
be a 4th-5th place MAAC team.

In terms of snubs,
one guy that sticks out is Siena forward Alex Franklin.. the other main cog on
the Saints besides Ubiles & Hasbrouck. From the NEC, Jeremy Chappell of Robert
Morris could be a breakout player. He's the leading returning scorer on a team
that won 26 games last year. Perhaps the biggest miss was Portland State PG
Jeremiah Dominguez. Portland State is favored to win the Big Sky, in large part
because of Dominguez, and not even one player from that league made our list.

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